


One of Those Days

by shotguncas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Dean is a Softie, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Gabriel Being Gabriel, Idiots in Love, It's so cute I died, M/M, Misunderstandings, Professor Castiel, Professor Dean Winchester, Sassy Castiel, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 23:51:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13868643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shotguncas/pseuds/shotguncas
Summary: The one in which Dean hesitates but his students and Castiel see no reason for him to do so.





	One of Those Days

**Author's Note:**

> based on: https://twitter.com/mishdestiel/status/953396675019771905

It was one of those days.

The alarm didn’t go off, the shower wasn’t warm, the coffee machine didn’t work, there was no more eatable bread, the car keys decided to disappear, the neighbor’s dog tried to attack him on the way out and last, but not least, he ran out of gas on the way to the university.

The thing is, Dean wasn’t that kind of guy... he was organized, always planned everything, always had enough groceries, never left the keys out of the bowl and he never, ever left his baby without enough gas.

However, he had slipped on his routine that week.

The finals were about to start and the pile of papers to grade was only getting bigger; his students deliberately missing classes wasn’t exactly helping, either. The coordinator wouldn’t quit trying to make him accept a position in another city, his brother decided to move in with his girlfriend so he’d been helping him move, and his mom was daily trying to set him up with random people she met at the supermarket or at the gym.

It was becoming too much to handle. So yeah… he slipped on his routine.

Dean called his friend Benny and asked him to bring some fuel to the place the car had stopped. He stayed inside the car and scoffed at himself in annoyance. His body was still shaking due to the cold shower and being startled by the dog, and that made everything worse.

For some minutes, Dean stared ahead mindlessly. “You know what?” He suddenly said in anger and got his phone from his bag. “Enough.”

He opened the texts he and his mom were exchanging.

After that, he opened his texts with Sam.

With a sigh, Dean placed his phone in the pocket of his heavy coat and decided that in that day, he’d solve everything he could in order to get his life back on track.

Soon later, Benny showed up with a gas can and promptly listened while Dean ranted for minutes in the middle of the street.

“I swear, Benny… never before.” Dean shook his head and waved his hands in a decisive manner as he paced on the street. “I’ve never been so neglectful with my life before. Everything is just so shitty.”

“Look, brother... you gotta relax.” Benny said as he filled the Impala’s tank. “You’ll always have test weeks and bad students, so you gotta find a way to deal with it and be cool with yourself.”

Dean nodded and sighed. “Yeah, yeah… you’re right.” He said and leaned against the car. “Thanks for helping out, by the way.”

“No problem.” Benny nodded. “Anytime.”

Dean insisted on paying for the gas and soon later he was starting the engine back on. He turned on the AC and took a deep breath before finishing his drive towards the University.

He parked on his designed spot, which for once wasn’t occupied by some evil student. As he saw the copper truck parked by his side, Dean smiled for the first time that morning. If the truck was there, its owner, Castiel, was there as well and that meant he would be seeing him on campus during the day.

While Dean taught Mythology, Castiel was the Theology and Religious Studies Professor. They became friends soon after Dean started working at the university, two years prior. Castiel was a fountain of sass mixed with squints, and as Dean himself said to his best friend Charlie multiple times: “the owner of unbearable blue eyes and this shiny, silky dark hair… just keeps stealing my breath”.

Needless to say that Dean was (maybe a little too much) into him.

The problem was that Dean loved his job, and after seeing both his colleagues Gabriel and Kali fired for causing trouble maintaining a relationship while working at the University, he was afraid of jeopardizing his career. That is why he declined the three times Castiel asked him out. With his heart on his hand, smashed and broken, he said no. Castiel didn’t hold it against him, he was very understanding and they continued to be good friends.

The situation made him miserable but he still managed to go through his days working with the man without giving up his job as soon as he saw those big blue eyes looking at him like he hang the moon.

Dean didn’t know exactly what was that made him so interested in his colleague. But the feelings were there and it was annoying sometimes. Like when he was trying to pay attention to what Castiel was saying on the break room but he was too distracted by his plump lips to listen properly. Or when they were in a meeting and Castiel spoke up but all he could do was try his best not to get aroused by that deep, professional voice. Or worse, when they bumped into each other at the supermarket… on the intimate-care section… that one had been terribly embarrassing.

Besides all that, Dean adored how Castiel often wore dorky clothes and drove that damn weird truck. He had this… _thing_. An inexplicable attitude and way to deal with things that fit perfectly with what Dean enjoyed and found interesting.

They often planned classes together after hours, sharing ideas about their fields on the break room over coffee. They seemed to be in sync, absolutely compatible to each other and Dean hated to not be able to act on his interest. Things had always been flirty between them, but it wouldn’t get past that. Flirting was all they had available on the table, and it sucked that he had to keep reminding himself of that.

Dean sighed and got out of the car, locked it and then walked towards the building.

Since he was already magnificently late and probably had few students in his classroom, he decided to deal with his issue with the coordinator.

“Excuse me, Ms. Lawrence.” Dean said as he knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Her voice came.

“Good morning, Marg.” Dean said as he entered and sat on the chair in front of the coordinator’s large desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Winchester.” She nodded at him, knowing how late he was.

“I had a problem with my car this morning so I’m very late. Forgive me. I’ll schedule a class on a different time so that my students won’t be impaired.” Dean said and took a deep breath. “I need to talk to you about the position you want me to take in Chicago.”

“Right.” Margareth brightened considerably at that. “Have you considered it?”

“I have… and I can’t accept it.” Dean said with certainty. “I’m sorry Marg, my whole life is here and I don’t have intentions to leave things behind me any time soon.”

“Are you sure, Dean?” Margareth tried and pursed her lips.

“Yes, I am.” Dean continued with his serious expression. “I really do appreciate the offer but it’s not a fit for me… I’m sorry.”

Marg shook her head and smiled. “Okay. I understand how situations like this one are.” She said. “Maybe Mr. Novak will accept the position instead… I’m waiting for his answer.”

Dean’s eyes widened slightly and his lips parted. “Uh, sure. Maybe he will.” He said quietly and tried to smile. “Uhm, excuse me, Ms. Lawrence. I should get to class now.”

The coordinator dismissed him with a nod. Dean walked out of the room and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, his heart thumping loud on his ears.

“Shit.” He mumbled to himself.

The thought of Castiel accepting the offer and moving away was heavy on his eyelids and forehead. Everything seemed to be crumbling down.

_What the fuck is happening today?_ , he thought and ran his free hand on his face. _And it’s not even noon._

After breathing in and out several times, Dean walked towards the bathroom. He washed his face and tried to calm himself. His first period was ruined already so there was no use in worrying too much. Minutes later, he walked to his classroom. When he was a couple of feet away from it, he heard Castiel’s voice through the closed door and frowned. They hadn’t scheduled a “scare-students” session for that morning.

They had come up with a potentially dumb plan to make Dean’s students take him seriously and don’t keep trying to objectify his field of study. Mythology classes were mandatory to all students of all courses in that campus of the University, but most of them didn’t care enough to show up, especially the math or engineering students.

The plan was that Castiel would appear in his classroom without warning before Dean arrived and would lecture Theology to the students, which they hated even more than Mythology. Dean would be harsh to Castiel and demand what he was doing there. They planned on some yelling and arguing over which subject was the best one, until Dean ordered him to leave.

They had successfully managed to get through three of Dean’s classes, and there was one more to act upon, but as far as Dean remembered, they would only do that on the following week.

Dean couldn’t exactly listen to what Cas was saying, apparently he wasn’t using the microphone on the table but was speaking close to the students, so all Dean could get were a couple of lost words depending on the volume Cas spoke.

He placed his head close to the door. “ _…and I was like “ah, c’mon”!_ ” Castiel was saying.

Dean frowned. Castiel’s tone of voice was friendly and playful, as if he was just casually talking to friends at a coffee shop or something. A chore of disappointed “ _awws_ ” came as an answer.

“ _Yes, yes… Anyways…”_ Dean heard him say and lost the rest of the phrase, it sounded like he was walking. _“…and interrupting class, but now, back to the angels…_ ” Cas’ voice came louder, from the microphone.

“ _No problem Mr. Novak._ ” Dean heard someone else saying and then Castiel chuckling.

_“As I was saying, for a long time angels have been considered the kindest of biblical creatures. That, though, is a very incorrect conception, given that instead of harp playing, their business is much more focused on fighting, on being warriors, on protection and on being agents of faith._ ” Castiel said professionally. Dean leaned against the door and smiled at the explanation. They had talked about angels once and Cas’ passion made Dean more interested in the subject than ever. “ _As you can see, they are often portrayed as fragile, humanoid and simply shaped when in reality they are gigantic creatures that when in their true form can have more than four wings, be bigger than skyscrapers, contain animal parts to their beings and even be waves and lights of pure energy.”_

After a couple of minutes listening to Castiel talk to the students, Dean considered and decided to enter the room trying to play his part on their plan. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to fake argue with his colleague.

He closed his expression and opened the door fast and strongly. Castiel turned towards him in surprise, almost startled.

“Professor Novak?” Dean said in a dictatorial voice, but anyone that knew him as more than as a teacher could tell he was faking. “Again? This... this is not your classroom.”

Castiel frowned at him for a second before his lips formed a smile that reached his eyes.

“Well, forgive me, Professor Winchester.” Castiel said and looked at the class with a smirk. “I had to cover your absence, and your students and I became quite… _acquainted_ of each other while together.” He continued, walking around the table and stepping down from the little stage to be closer to Dean.

Dean’s frown became even deeper since Castiel clearly wasn’t playing his part. He could listen to some of his students chuckling and whispering to each other. _Shit_.

Quickly, Dean walked to the table and placed his bag on top of it, walking past Castiel.

“What’s happening here?” Dean whispered as he walked back closer to Cas, his back turned to the classroom.

Castiel widened his smile. “It seems like your students learned about our interest on each other somehow.” He said with his voice slightly loud, tone indicating that Dean should play along. “And they will only agree to watch your classes assiduously if you finally agree to go on a date with me. I'm not allowed to leave your classroom until you say yes.”

Dean huffed a laugh. “What?” He shook his head in confusion.

Castiel shrugged playfully. “I did not make the rules…”

“Are you serious?” Dean asked with his eyebrows raised.

When Cas nodded, Dean closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

“I…” Dean found himself speechless with Castiel’s (clearly not fake) hopeful smile.

That was a terrible, horrible idea. Dean knew it and he had no idea what would happen between them once the student’s weren’t there. But he needed to at least relish a little bit on Castiel’s happy face to his “yes”… on his great feeling to saying “yes”.

“So?” Cas asked, raising his eyebrows. “What will it be, Professor?”

“Well…” Dean said and pursed his lips for a second, only to lick them in sequence. “I’d love to go out on a date with you, Mr. Novak.”

Castiel’s smile was the biggest one he’d ever seen on his face and he was so enveloped by it that the cheering from the students by their side was absolutely muffled and distant.

“It’s a date.” Castiel said quietly.

Dean knew damn well it was only a plan to get credits with the students, but damn he wish it was truth.

 

***

 

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel said, standing in front on the table Dean was sitting at on the break room. He meant to eat his lunch but all he was doing was blankly stare at the plate with his mind far away, poking the cafeteria’s lasagna with the plastic fork.

Dean blinked a couple of times as he awakened and looked up. “Hey Cas.” He said with a small smile.

“May I join you?” Castiel pointed at the table with hesitation.

“Sure, yeah.” Dean said and straightened his back, trying to be more welcoming to his colleague.

Castiel nodded in appreciation and pulled the chair as he placed his usual green Tupperware on the table. He opened it and started eating. Fridays meant fried tilapia fillets with rice and corn cream, and Dean mentally smiled at himself for knowing Castiel’s lunch routine.

“Is everything okay?” Castiel asked after a few minutes and Dean frowned at him. “You never eat the cafeteria’s food.” Cas explained, pointing to the tray with the lasagna.

“Oh, I uh… got lost in the amount of things to do and didn’t have time to cook any food.” Dean said and looked down, hating himself.

“I’m so sorry.” Castiel said, genuinely upset. “If that ever happens again you can call me or text me… I could absolutely cook for two instead of one.”

Dean looked up and caught Castiel’s hopeful eyes. He nodded. “Thanks.”

“Do you want to talk about whatever is happening?” Cas offered in between bites.

“Nah, not really.” Dean huffed a laugh and let go of the fork, causing it to land over the uneaten lasagna. He looked to the side, towards the window, and focused on the palm trees swinging to the wind. Castiel only nodded.

They continued in silence for long minutes.

Dean desperately wanted to speak, but he didn’t dare to voice his thoughts. He knew he had to say to Cas that the classroom situation meant nothing, that they weren’t going on a date, that they weren’t going to be together anytime soon, that things sucked and despite them wanting to be together, life just wasn’t right and fair. However, the last thing he wanted was to break the dream, so silence took over for another few minutes.

“Dean.” Castiel said almost in a whisper, breaking the silence as one breaks glass with a hammer.

“I hate this, Cas.” Dean said and turned his head towards his colleague, causing him to lift both eyebrows. “I hate that my life is a mess right now. I hate that my students hate my classes. I hate that I never do anything for myself. I hate that I… that I _want_ something so bad and can’t have it.” His voice faltered. “I hate that I can’t be with you.” He whispered.

Castiel’s eyes softened and Dean couldn’t bare looking at them, so he focused instead on Cas’ purple striped bow tie and dark blue cardigan. An involuntary wave of warmth bloomed in his chest.

“I hate that I want to say yes.” He continued, calmly. “I want to say yes and I want to take you on this perfect, amazing date. I want us to be together because I know we would be awesome as a couple.” He chuckled sadly and Castiel huffed an emotional laugh. “I just can’t… I can’t lose this job. I’m sorry.”

Dean looked up again and caught Castiel’s deep frown.

“Why do you think you would lose your job?” Cas asked, still quietly, placing his fork and knife over the lid of his pot.

“Well…” Dean shrugged. “Gabe and Kali were fired for maintaining a relationship while working together so I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of rule against that.”

Castiel widened his eyes and after a second, smiled. “They were not fired because they were dating.” He said and slightly shook his head.

“What?” Dean said and it was his turn to frown. “Of course they were. Gabriel said to me that the reason for their disconnection with the University was their relationship. He made such a big deal about this.” He shrugged.

“Well Gabriel is a huge asshole.” Castiel said and Dean was taken aback by his curse. “We’re cousins, you know that. I am guessing he said that so we wouldn’t do anything to get together... he always knew that we have interest in each other but were too afraid to do anything about it, and he loves messing with people’s lives. Last year he spread the rumor my grandparents were cheating on each other and they almost ended up divorced.”

Dean ran his hand over his face. “I don’t get what the fuck is going on.” He said and shook his head.

Castiel smiled at him and took a breath. “Gabriel lied. They were fired for being caught having intercourse on the University premises. His classroom, to be exact... didn’t even lock the door.” He explained calmly, slightly disgusted. “Having a relationship with a workmate is not against the rules or anything. They only ask for people to be respectful and maintain professionalism in the University spaces.”

Castiel watched as Dean’s face turned from confusion to annoyance.

“I’m so gonna kick his ass.” Dean mumbled and bit the inside of his cheek as he shook his head.

“There’s a big line of people wanting to do that.” Castiel chuckled and suddenly leaned forward with an excited gasp, holding Dean’s forearm. “I suppose you could call him a trickster!” He said.

Dean’s smile spread and he laughed, mindlessly placing his hand over Cas’. “Yeah, I could… but I think every other trickster would want to end him.”

“Hmm… I have no doubt about that.” Cas agreed with a smile.

They stared at each other as their smiles slowly dissipated, giving space to the increase of breaths and heartbeats.

“So you’re saying we can go out?” Dean said slowly, intently watching Castiel’s blue eyes.

“Yes, of course.” Cas nodded slightly. “I swear you won’t get fired.” He said and squeezed Dean’s arm.

They both looked down as if they were first noticing the connection between their limbs.

Swallowing thick, Castiel leaned back and huffed a nervous laugh. “I apologize.” He said as he straightened the lapels of his brown suit jacket.

“It’s okay.” Dean answered and smiled at him. “So, uh…”

“Could I pick you up at 7pm tomorrow?” Castiel said in a rush, worry all over his eyes.

“Yeah, Cas.” Dean nodded. “Yeah you could.” He smiled and watched as Cas let go of a held breath and smiled in relief.

Dean was about to ask Castiel about the position in Chicago when his wristwatch beeped twice, letting him know that the lunch break was over. He thought that maybe it was for the best… Cas wouldn’t want to go out with him if he would be leaving soon. _Right?_

“I have to go now, I’m sorry.” He said with pursed lips. Castiel nodded in understanding so he got up and discarded the tray. “Text me the details for tomorrow?” Dean asked.

“Sure.” Cas said. “Have a nice class.” He wished and waved.

Dean squeezed Cas’ shoulder with a nod before grabbing his coat and bag to leave the room.

 

***

 

Dean took the Saturday to continue to organize himself. He went to the supermarket, restocked his kitchen, bought snacks to the neighbor’s angry dog and filled his car’s tank. He did some cleaning and even made himself a well-deserved lunch. Then, he made sure everything else at home was organized so that his following week started the right way.

He was watching TV when his phone beeped later that day. He reached for it and saw that Cas had sent him details about their night.

He couldn’t believe it was finally happening. With a gummy smile, he replied.

After sighing happily, he placed the phone back on the coffee table and leaned against the cushions.

_The Pearl_ was a restaurant at the local beach. He had never been there but as far as people told him, the place was awesome, calm and very romantic.

He watched three more episodes of _Grimm_ before heading upstairs to start getting ready. He decided to leave the little bit of stubble he had, so he took a shower and then walked into his bedroom, already trying to decide what to wear.

Since it wasn’t cold like the day before, Dean decided on a short-sleeved, greyish blue button-up shirt and khaki pants. He figured it would be adaptable whether the place ended up being fancy or not. He also chose a pair of casual shoes to complete the outfit.

He was ready by 6:30 pm, walking from one side to the other and trying to calm himself.

He considered watching something else but he knew he wouldn’t pay attention. So he got his phone and called Charlie, immediately putting the call on speaker.

“ _Sup?_ ” Charlie’s voice sounded after a couple of beeps. Video game noises were coming from the background.

“I’m about to go on a date.” Dean said, tapping his fingers on the counter.

“ _Nice!_ ” She said teasingly and he heard an explosion. “ _Are you finally over the dreamy professor?_ ”

“Actually… I’m, uh… I’m going on a date with him.” Dean said and the game noises suddenly stopped.

“ _What?!_ ” Charlie yelled. “ _When did that happen?_ ”

“Yesterday.” Dean smiled as he remembered. “We’ll have to go out sometime for me to tell you everything but basically we talked and we’re going out today.”

“ _Damn!_ ” Charlie’s voice was smiling. “ _We don’t talk for two days and shit like that happens…_ ”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah…” He said. “Well as I was saying... I’m freaking out.”

“ _Haven’t you guys been all over each other’s ass for like… ages? As far as you told me, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about, Dean._ ” Charlie said and huffed a laugh.

“Yeah but he’s taking me to that nice restaurant at the beach and I’m nervous ‘cause I mean… this is _Cas_.” Dean tried to explain, shrugging. “I don’t wanna fuck this up. You know I like him a lot.” He paused. “And I have no idea what I’m doing… he might accept that position in Chicago instead of me and I might be just jumping straight into a heartbreak.”

“ _You won’t._ ” Charlie assured him and Dean could hear her opening a bag of chips. “ _First of all you could never do anything straight ‘cause you’re not straight. Second,_ _I’m sure he wouldn’t have asked you out again if he was planning to leave. Plus, you guys are all dorky and cute together all the time and if he already likes you despite your nerdy ass, you’ll be just fine._ ”

“You have a weird way of showing support, you know that?” Dean said as he turned around and leaned his lower back against the counter.

“ _Yep._ ” Charlie answered, clearly with her mouth full. “ _So… you gonna bring him back to your place?_ ”

“Oh my God.” Dean whined and placed both hands over his eyes. “I hadn’t even considered that.” He said, muffled.

Charlie chuckled. “ _Just make sure you took your grandpa underwear from the bathroom and it’s all good._ ”

“I don’t have grandpa underwear.” Dean squinted with a grimace of unfairness.

“ _Sure, hon._ ” Charlie said with a huffed laugh. “ _Seriously though, you’ll be fine. Trust me… I know shit.”_

“Yeah you do.” Dean sighed. He looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was almost 6:45 pm. “I’m gonna go… he’ll be here anytime now.”

“ _Okay._ ” Charlie answered with her mouth full again. “ _Good luck! Text me the deets._ ”

“You know I won’t.” Dean said with a scoff. “Bye.”

Dean ended the call and took a deep breath. He nodded to himself and then walked to both bathrooms to check if he had left any underwear laying around. Charlie really could get in his head with a simple look. Just as he was returning to the living room, he heard the unmistakable roar of Cas’ truck and he smiled big.

He walked to the door but stopped himself with wide eyes. “What am I doing?” Dean asked himself, thinking of how he would look like a fool waiting for Cas at the door.

Dean went back to the kitchen and leaned against the counter. Around a minute later, the doorbell rang and he straightened his back quickly.

“Okay.” He said quietly. “That’s it. I can totally do this.”

After nodding to himself multiple times, Dean walked to the door and cleared his throat before putting his hand on the handle and pulling the door open.

A big smile spread on his face as he caught sight of Castiel. “Hi.” He said breathlessly, feeling his heart beating like a jackhammer inside his chest.

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel said. His small, faltering smile giving away his nervousness.

Dean continued to stare at him until Castiel blinked and cleared his throat.

“I, uh, brought you these.” He said and lifted his arm with the small bouquet of flowers he was holding and Dean hadn’t noticed. “They’re called _plumerias_.”

Dean’s eyebrows went up and his lips parted. Castiel offered him the flowers and he took it with shaky hands. “Thanks, Cas.” He said in almost a whisper.

Castiel smiled at him and clasped his hands together behind his back. Dean couldn’t take his eyes from the colored petals. The pink mixed perfectly with white and yellow until it reached the middle and melted into the stems. He felt warmth growing inside him at how delicate the flowers were.

“Dean?” Castiel said carefully, eyeing him with concern and leaning slightly to the side.

“Yeah?” Dean looked up from the flowers slowly and met Castiel’s eyes, still enveloped by the surprise.

“Are you alright?” Cas continued.

Dean nodded and seemed to wake. “Yeah, it’s just… this is the first time I’m getting flowers.” He said and huffed a laugh, looking down at the petals to hide the heat in his cheeks.

Castiel’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He said and subtly leaned back. “Was it too much?”

“No! No.” Dean said as he shook his head and waved his hand. “It was perfect.” He smiled fondly and Castiel nodded in relief. “Come in. I’ll put them on a vase real quick and then we can go.”

Castiel nodded again and followed Dean inside.

“I know I said this the first time you hosted game night but you have a lovely home.” Cas said as he stood on the opening between the kitchen and the living room.

“Thanks, Cas.” Dean said with a shy smile and continued to look for a vase. “I’m glad you like it.”

Castiel hummed in agreement. Almost two minutes later Dean still hadn’t found any, he just stood and sighed.

“Apparently I don’t have any vases… so a glass will have to do for the time being.” He chuckled.

Castiel did the same and continued to look around the living room, stopping by the shelf with framed pictures. Dean watched him as he filled the glass with water and arranged the flowers in it.

He noticed Castiel wasn’t wearing suit or even slacks, which was very unusual since he always dressed so professionally, even when they weren’t at the University. Dean almost never had the chance to see him so at ease as he seemed to be that night. Cas was wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt with black stripes on its front and Dean couldn’t help but find adorable the white shoes he was wearing. He seemed young and careless.

Castiel cleared his throat, announcing he had caught Dean staring at him.

Dean chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m, uh… ready.” He mumbled placing both hands flat on the counter.

“Okay.” Cas said, smirking at him.

Dean walked around the counter, leaving the flowers on its middle, and went to the door.

They stepped outside and as soon as Dean turned around from locking the door, he noticed Cas waiting for him. He smiled at him and when he got closer, Cas placed his hand on his lower back. Dean’s heart rumbled even louder inside his chest, making a huge fuss to his brain, who was trying to make the rest of his body calm down. Castiel opened the truck’s door for him and closed it only after Dean thanked him and he had smiled in return.

Cas drove them to the beach and parked close to the restaurant. Again, his hand was a constant feel on Dean’s lower back as they walked. He asked for the table reserved under “Novak” and soon they were both led to one of the tables closest to the water.

“This place is awesome.” Dean said in awe, looking around as they both sat facing the beach.

“It is.” Cas agreed, also looking around with a smile.

The wooden floor was only a couple of feet from the sand, build around the trees that were there already. Said trees were equipped with lights and the tables with candles. The sun was disappearing on the horizon, and the sky was a painting of purples and oranges.

Soon enough they ordered, managing to keep the conversations light and comfortable until the food arrived.

“You know…” Castiel said after taking a sip of his wine. “I thought you were rejecting me because you weren’t like… _out_ , yet.”

“What?” Dean said and laughed. “Oh my God.”

Castiel joined him with a laugh. “I know! Believe me… I know. And I apologize for still trying to make a move more than once. I failed to consider how uncomfortable that could be making you.”

“It’s okay… I think I would’ve done the same if I didn’t think I was gonna lose my job.” Dean said with a shake of his head. “And you know… I’ve actually been out as bi since high school.”

“Really?” Cas said with interest. “That’s rather unusual, especially for people our age.”

“Yeah… I guess it would’ve been a problem if I had more family around, but as you know it’s just Sammy and mom.” Dean explained and Cas nodded in understanding. “What about you?”

Cas placed his glass on the table and rearranged himself on his chair. “Well, I never really came out to my family.” He said with a shrug and Dean lifted his eyebrows in interest. “Since I never really shared connections with any of them except for Gabriel, I figured it wasn’t worth telling them something that matters mostly to me. It’s my life after all, and I don’t care if they have a problem with the way I live it or not.”

Dean smiled fondly at him. “That’s a very forward thinking.” He said and Castiel looked down at his plate.

“Thank you.” Cas said. “I like to think that the people that really care about me are the ones I owe any sort of explanations.”

“I agree with that… it’s a healthy way to live your life.” Dean said, reaching for his own glass. “Except that now the whole University knows about us.” He smirked before taking a sip.

“Oh God…” Cas whined and buried his face on both hands. “That was a huge disaster. I’m so sorry. I swear I tried to avoid the questions.”

Dean chuckled. “It’s okay, really.” He reached forward and placed a hand on Cas’ forearm for a quick little squeeze. “I mean… if they were suspicious about us it means we weren’t being very subtle on the first place.”

Castiel huffed a laugh and dropped his hands, placing both folded arms on the table. “It was really difficult for me to hide my interest, I was totally sure you were also partly rejecting me because of all my staring with… “heart eyes”.” He air quoted.

“Are you kidding me?” Dean said in disbelief. “You have any idea how hard it was for me to listen to you being all professional during our meetings and conferences? You’re hot as fuck, Cas.”

Castiel’s jaw dropped subtly at Dean’s statement. “I could definitely say the same about you.” He said in a mumble, looking away as a strong shade of pink spread on his cheeks, visible even though the light was poor around them.

Dean stared at him with a smile until Cas looked back at him. “I’m glad we’re here.” He said and led his hand to Cas’ forearm again.

“Me too.” Cas answered, opening a smile. “And I’m glad we get along so well… I was afraid things would get weird for some reason.” He turned the palm of his hand up to make it easier for his fingers to slide in between Dean’s.

They continued to share an intense look for what felt like ages, until a couple passed by the side of their table and woke them from the trance.

“Should we, uh, take a walk on the beach?” Castiel offered, pointing towards the beach with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah.” Dean breathed out with a nod. “Sure.” He let go of Cas’ hand to reach for his wallet.

“No, no, no!” Cas waved his hand. “No paying for you tonight.”

Dean frowned. “C’mon, Cas! At least half.” He pleaded.

“Next time.” Cas winked at him and waved for the waiter to bring their check.

A couple of minutes later they were walking down the little steps from the restaurant to the sand. They stopped on the last one to take their shoes off and fold the hem of their pants so that the water wouldn’t soak them.

Castiel stretched his arm when Dean finished, offering him his hand. Dean took his and Cas’ shoes by the laces and pushed himself up, accepted Cas’ hand and immediately threaded their fingers together.

They walked on the shore for some minutes, noticing how the water came to their feet and went back to the ocean, softening the sand, inciting their skin and creating sensitiveness on their toes.

“Tell me how the hell did that whole scene in my classroom happened?” Dean asked with a smile as their feet were covered in water.

Castiel chuckled and swung their twined hands. “Well, it all began with the coordinator asking me to cover for your absence, and next thing I knew Hannah was asking me about my love life and interrupting my speech about angelic lore.” He said.

“I’m not surprised...” Dean laughed. “That girl totally has a crush on you.”

“What?” Cas said almost comically. “No she doesn’t.”

“Dude I’ve seen her following you on campus more times than I can remember.” Dean said and kicked some water forward. “She looks at you as if you were the answer to all of the world’s problems or something. You are, but still…”

“C’mon you are clearly making that up.” Cas said in embarrassment, looking away.

“I’m not!” Dean said with a huffed laugh, squeezing Cas’ fingers before letting them go in order to place his own arm around Cas’ shoulders. “I hate her so much for the way she looks at you… I was tempted to give her a D just for that on the last semester.” He chuckled.

“Oh my God, Dean!” Cas looked at him in shock. “I can’t believe this… I swear I never noticed anything.”

“Yeah, I figured you didn’t.” Dean said. “And I know that being aware of it would make you uncomfortable during classes so I didn’t say anything.”

Castiel chuckled and shook his head, threading his own fingers to the ones Dean had hanging up on his right shoulder. “Yeah, you do know me…” He said fondly as he placed his left arm around Dean’s back. “But _anyways_.” Cas said emphatically, pulling at Dean’s hand. “I said that I was interested in somebody but it wouldn’t work out, so they started asking insistently if it was you, until I broke and admitted it was. Then, they said I should ask you out again but this time in front of them so that you wouldn’t decline. I saw an opportunity there and made a deal to do that only if they agreed to be more assiduous to your classes.”

“You’re fucking smart, you know that?” Dean said with a laugh and nuzzled Cas’ temple. He dropped a kiss to his cheek before leaning back and looking into his eyes. “This is so easy with you.” He said. “I can’t believe I was nervous.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I was nervous as well.” Cas said and pulled Dean even closer to his side. “And it is easy… but I think that has something to do with how close we already were.” He smiled.

“Yeah, I mean… we’ve known each other for almost three years now. You know all about my family, relationships and friends…” Dean chuckled nervously. “I was afraid we would run out of things to talk about or something.”

“But it’s actually the opposite of that.” Cas said as he gently guided Dean away from the water so they could sit on the dry sand. Dean frowned at his words. “We have a whole new category of subjects we can talk about and things we can do if we’re together.”

They both sat down and Dean dropped their shoes to the side. “Like what?” He asked as he planted both feet flat on his front and leaned on one of his hands.

“We can talk about small, more personal things we like, intimate or not.” Cas explained while looking at the sea, right hand caressing Dean’s knee. Dean kept watching the movements of his lips and the way his head tilted with some of his words. “We can plan and talk about the future, we can learn each other’s routines and mannerisms in a deeper level, enjoy each other’s company for more time and in different places…”

“We can kiss instead of just staring at each other for hours.” Dean said, interrupting Cas’ words and causing him to look into back into his eyes.

“Yeah… we can.” Cas said quietly.

Dean smiled and gently caressed Cas’ cheek with his finger before placing his hand on the side of Cas’ face and waiting for him to come forward. He felt Castiel’s breath faltering as he leaned in, and the touch of their lips sent a full, strong shiver down his spine. The touch ended almost as soon as it started, and they leaned their foreheads together for a few seconds before diving in for a deep, actual kiss. Castiel’s hand found Dean’s arm while Dean kept his hand on Cas’ neck. Their lips slid against each other, slightly wetting the skin, tasting, registering the movements and clearly needing more with every passing second.

Castiel ran his hand up to Dean’s shoulder, stopping on the curve of his neck to break the kiss gently. They panted against each other’s lips, occasionally stealing pecks until their chests weren’t jumping anymore.

“You are a very great kisser.” Castiel whispered and chuckled, licking his own lips.

“And you’re a breathtaking kisser.” Dean answered, also chuckling.

He leaned back to look into Cas’ eyes, searching for one answer, for one topic, one decision.

“About those future plans…” Dean said slowly, needing to know in order to make his soul calm itself, or create a war. “Do they involve a different town?”

Cas pursed his lips in a smile. “I will not say yes to the position in Chicago.” He said in almost a whisper, accompanied by a slight shake of his head.

“Why not?” Dean asked while trying to make his heart calm itself.

“Because I found my place here.” Cas explained, running his hand up and down Dean’s bicep. “I found my home after thirty years and I don’t want to give it up.” He said and shrugged.

Dean placed his hand back to Cas’ face and pulled him into a soft kiss.

“I’m here to support you no matter what.” He said and Cas nodded. “Just please don’t decline such a great opportunity only because of something stupid like being with me.”

“That’s not something stupid.” Cas reprimanded with a look. “And yeah, being with you weights a lot but it’s not just that… you don’t have to worry.”

Dean nodded. “If you change your mind, please talk to me.” He said and caressed Cas’ cheek. “I need to see you happy.”

“I am happy.” Castiel smiled so fondly his eyes glistened. “I promise.”

It took Dean a moment to break the spell from the glow of Cas’ eyes, but when he did, he smiled back and nodded before deeply kissing Cas one more time.

“You want to start our walk back to the car?” Castiel asked.

“Only if you agree to have coffee in my place.” Dean wiggled his eyebrows.

Castiel squinted at him. “Are you trying to keep me up all night?”

“Nah.” Dean smiled and leaned closer to kiss Cas’ cheek. “Not yet… maybe on our second date.” He whispered against Cas’ ear and left a kiss there.

“I can work with that.” Cas chuckled and pushed himself up, taking Dean’s hand to pull him up and back towards the water so that they could walk with the waves on their feet again.

“Oh, I’m cooking dinner at Sammy and Jess’ new place tomorrow, wanna come with me?” Dean asked as they started walking hand in hand. “Mom will be there and I’d love if you could meet her.”

“Wouldn’t I be intruding a family moment?” Cas asked, his thumb caressing Dean’s hand.

“Not at all.” Dean shook his head and looked into Cas’ eyes. “And also I want to show off my hot boyfriend.”

“Hmm, that sounds nice.” Cas said with a smile and leaned in to nuzzle Dean’s cheek. “I’ll go with you then. But I want us to meet with Gabriel and Kali this week so that Gabe can apologize for being an asshole.”

Dean grunted and heard a chuckle coming from Cas. “Fine… only if I can punch him if he acts like a jerk.”

“Sounds great to me.” Castiel answered with happiness.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hope y'all enjoyed it!  
> I might write another part (yeah you know what I'm talking about *smirks*) to this story if requestested ♡
> 
> (thank you @lockedestiel on tt for helping out ♡) I'm mishdestiel on twitter and tumblr.


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